A Finnish crime prevention study has produced evidence of the effectiveness of four measures. These are: (1) bullying prevention in line with the KiVa School program, (2) multi-professional Anchor activities for offenders under the age of 18, (3) targeted police enforcement in leisure-time risk hotspots for young people, and (4) participation in upper secondary education after completing basic education.
The findings are reported in a newly published report that compiled information on methods for preventing youth crime from the FINPREV database, which contains Finnish impact evaluation studies.
“Crimes committed by young people often target other young people, so preventing crime is also preventing victimization,” emphasizes doctoral researcher Aaro Beuker from the University of Helsinki, who authored the report.
In studies with no age limit for defining youth, opioid substitution treatment and both conditional and unconditional imprisonment have been assessed as effective. The applicability of these measures to the prevention of youth crime cannot be assessed. As for fines, the research evidence points in different directions.
“It is possible that different measures affect the criminality of different age groups. In the Out of Despair project, youth is defined broadly—we examine people under the age of 30—and, on the other hand, the youngest children are not the project’s target group,” Beuker notes.
According to Beuker, more research is needed on the effectiveness of criminal sanctions, including specifying the age groups studied. It is also important to assess the effectiveness of various measures specifically in Finland, since foreign research may not necessarily be generalizable to Finnish conditions.
FINPREV Database Compiles Domestic Impact Research
The Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy (KRIMO) at the University of Helsinki established the FINPREV database in 2016 together with the National Council for Crime Prevention. The database compiles domestic impact research with the aim of producing comparable summaries of Finnish research on effectiveness.
“A special feature of the database is that it covers all ways of preventing crime—measures aimed at the general population, measures for risk groups, and measures for offenders, including punishments,” says Professor of Criminology Janne Kivivuori, who initiated the establishment of the database while serving as Chair of the Council’s research section.
The database is based on information provided by researchers themselves, but its storage platform makes different studies comparable. According to Kivivuori, a particularly important goal in developing FINPREV has been to specify the research designs.
“The ability of studies to demonstrate a causal relationship between a measure and its effect varies,” Kivivuori notes. “That is why it is important to take the level of research evidence into account when compiling the data.”